Earlier today (April 20), C+D published an open letter and launched a petition asking health and social care commissioners in England, Wales and Scotland to follow Northern Ireland’s lead with ringfenced funding for pharmacies across the UK to improve their security measures.

The petition stresses how vital it is for all four of the UK’s health and social care commissioners to recognise the impact crime and violence has on frontline pharmacy teams and why it is essential to mitigate against the risk of violence and abuse.

It follows the publication of C+D’s crimes in pharmacies investigation that launched last month, which revealed the extent and severity of crime that pharmacy teams across England, Northern Ireland and Wales are subjected to.

Catch up with the key findings from the investigation by reading this short briefing document.

A total of 35 of the 45 UK police authorities provided data for 2019 and 2020, in response to C+D’s freedom of information (FOI) requests, while 33 police forces granted C+D the data for 2021.

According to the data, at least 27,385 reports of crimes in pharmacies were received by police authorities over the three-year period. But while the frequency of threats of abuse and violence grew over the pandemic, pharmacy teams reported fewer crimes overall to the police.

These crimes ranged from shoplifting and burglary to vandalism and arson. At least 1,437 reports of violent crimes in pharmacies were reported to the police in 2021, with violent crime accounting for 17.9% of all crimes in pharmacies reported in 2021.

Read C+D’s open letter and sign the petition asking for ringfenced funding for security measures in pharmacies here.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, Pharmacist Support has provided a list of resources to turn to for support.

Have you been on the receiving end of abuse or aggressive behaviour from patients? Share your experiences on the C+D Community or if you'd prefer to remain anonymous, please contact [email protected].

Catch up with C+D's crimes in pharmacies investigation here.

Click here to view and download C+D’s briefing document.